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| Have Some Fruit!, acrylic, 9" x 12", CAN $ 350 |
Blog 18
During the second half of 2015, I continued exhibiting my artworks at many locations. In early July, I hung a solo exhibition at Tyros Shawarma Lebanese Restaurant in Orléans. The show Summer Destinations contained some of my favourite summer paintings.
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| Solo Exhibition at Tyros Restaurant July |
As always, I spent one week of July at the cottage with the whole family. There, I finished two paintings and created another small one. Next followed a weekend in Toronto with my daughter. We visited the inspiring Emily Carr exhibition From the Forest to the Sea at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Except for two days at the Doodle 'n' Draw camp at Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex, I did not teach but welcomed visitors from Germany for the rest of the month. On the first day, we got inspired by Vincent van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses. Then, we painted abstract like Franz Marc in his painting The Yellow Cow. Some kids worried that they would be able to paint such complex pieces and were surprised and excited when they saw their finished works.
I started teaching my private clients again in August. I still had lots of time to finish many of my oil paintings outside because I do not like the smell in my studio.
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| Early October at Whitewater Village, oil 11' x 14”, CAN $375 |
At the beginning of September, I replaced my solo exhibition Summer Destinations with my fall follow-up Indian Summer in Canada.
Due to a scheduling conflict, we did not travel to Kamouraska for our yearly painting trip. Instead, I spent the long weekend in Muskoka with my husband’s family. The happiness of the weekend vanished fast by the fear for Alex, who had developed severe pancreatitis. I was so scared to lose him just a year after our Golden Retriever, Candy. Luckily, he made a full recovery.
Aside from my private art and German students, I taught two art courses at François Dupuis Recreation Centre by mid-September.
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| Glebe Show with my sponsor and good friend, the late Linda Platt |
At the end of September, I participated in the 10th annual Glebe Fine Arts Exhibition. It was wonderful to meet so many interesting people. However, I only sold some greeting cards. Considering all the work that went into the show, I was very disappointed. I also realized that with my son, Dominic, out of the house, it would be even more complicated to recruit him as a helper for the setup and takedown of my booth. In the end, I decided not to participate in this show again. Instead, I increased my participation in Arteast events and exhibitions like the Arteast Juried Award Exhibition at the St Laurent Complex in Ottawa with my painting Blushing Sunset.
The next Plein Air Ensemble trip was at the beginning of October at Lake Clear in Eganville. Hélène, Janis, and I arrived a day earlier to get everything organized before the arrival of the rest of the group. Even though the colours were not as intense that fall due to the dry summer, there were pockets of beautiful colours. The reds and oranges brought a lot of vibrancy into the green landscape.
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| Star Tree, oil, 11" x 14", NFS |
After my return, Josie De Meo and I held our first painting party together. I had resisted offering painting parties for a long time but changed my mind when I realized how much fun the participants had. It helped me share my passion for art with people who had never considered taking an art course. 
On October 24, I participated for the first time at the Worldwide SketchCrawl. It took a lot of courage to join the group of artists who were quite accomplished at capturing their environment. I did not have a lot of sketching experience. I am usually someone who takes her time to draw something. However, reading up on urban sketching, I realized that sketching is like your own handwritten visual journal entry. This opinion encouraged me to experiment with urban sketching. We met in the Byward Market in downtown Ottawa, where the old buildings and the farmers market offered lots to see and sketch. I created some lovely sketches of the humongous pumpkins at some of the vegetable stands. The morning of sketching was so energizing that I continued during the bus ride home. You can see some of the photos from the SketchCrawl on http://ottawaurbansketchers.blogspot.ca/2015_10_01_archive.html.
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| Hélène Martin and I at Galop Gallery |
In November, I teamed up with Hélène to show artworks from our painting trips at the Galop Gallery in Cardinal. I also had another solo exhibition called Winter Wonderland at the Tyros Restaurant. Plus, my painting Orange Lilies was part of the Arteast Holiday Mix at St. Laurent Complex in Ottawa.
To celebrate the year with my customers, I invited them into our home for my third annual Open House on the first Saturday in December. In 2015, I started to increase my interactions with my existing and potential clients with my weekly blogs and monthly newsletters after learning the importance of building relationships. I also showed my artwork to the public in many solo and group exhibitions. Join me next week to see how my journey continues.
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